LESSON PLAN: City of Manson Information CD-ROM

Teacher: Brad Kruse                      School:  Manson Northwest Webster High City/State: Manson, Iowa Curriculum Area: Computer Applications Grade Level: 10-12 Video Number: 011iahs

PURPOSE:

This learning activity provides a follow-up activity for students to:        

• Apply their understanding of the use of different pieces of technology equipment students study in class.

• Share their results with peers.

• To perform communication skills such as speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

•  Link the school and students with the community in a “real life” project, which allows the students to take ownership.

DESCRIPTION:
Note:  This assignment can take up to two full months to complete depending on the complexity of the subject matter.

·        Students finish up the computer applications class with a project that will require the students to revisit each of the course objectives or skills that were learned during the semester.  The project will require the students to perform skills other than technology skills, such as speaking, listening, writing, and reading.  One of these such projects was to develop a promotional tool for the city of Manson.

·        A CD-ROM including history, facts, interviews, and a virtual tour of the city is created using all the technology tools available to our school district.   Some of these included digital camera and camcorder, scanners, Internet, e-mail, digital video editor, sound editor, PowerPoint, Premiere, PhotoShop, etc.

·        Each student researches an area of study and uses his/her technology skills to build that segment of the CD-ROM project.

·         The students’ section of the CD-ROM is evaluated and also an applied/hands-on skill evaluation is given to each student.  

ACTIVITIES:

(Note:  This is a unit plan that may cover several days to several weeks. Not all of the following activities/standards will appear in the video clips used.)

TOOLS & RESOURCES:
Hardware:
Digital Camcorder
Digital Camera
Scanner
Digital Video Editor System

Software:
MS PowerPoint. Microsoft Corp. Available: http://www.microsoft.com
Adobe Premiere. Adobe. Available: http://www.adobe.com
Adobe PhotoShop. Adobe. Available: http://www.adobe.com
Internet Explorer.  Microsoft Corp. Available: http://www.microsoft.com
MS Word. Microsoft Corp. Available: http://www.microsoft.com

Web Sites:
Government Data Web Sites
Map Sites
Geological Sites

Computer Accessibility:
Media Center equipped with 25 computers and video and presentation equipment

ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated through the use of an applied (hands-on) test.  They will demonstrate knowledge of use of each technology used in the project.

Also, their final project will be evaluated in terms of completing each required computer application within the project.

CREDITS:
Brad Kruse Manson Northwest Webster High Manson, Iowa
kruseb@manson-nw.k12.ia.us

TIMELINE & COURSE OUTLINE:
This project is the last of the assignments in the class each year.  It works perfect because it summarizes each technology studied during the semester and also allows students to take ownership in the final outcome.

Much of the video footage was reenacting.  The interviewing and some of the video recording was live for the first time.  I split the students in groups covering each aspect of the project throughout the semester.  This project would normally take about 6 weeks to complete.

COMMENTS:
I always try to do this type of project each year in my class to revisit each of the course objectives or skills that were learned during the semester.  The best experience I have had with this type of project is that students feel a sense of pride in their work.  They know that it will be used by the community in the future and that they have ownership in the project.

Technology Resources:
I chose these technology resources because they were needed directly to finish the project.  The digital video computer system allowed us to shoot video and then come back and edit it to the size and content we needed for the CD-ROM.

 
School Background Information:

The population of Manson town is 1800 people. The majority of parents are employed.  Approximately half of the parents works for Manson retail and agriculture and half work at Ft. Dodge, a nearby city of 40,000 people. The enrollment in our district is 882 students. None of the students have limited English fluency. We have 99% Caucasian students, and 1% Korean and Afro-American students.

Teaching Strategy:
I love this teaching strategy because it allows students to think for themselves and use their higher-order thinking skills to trouble-shoot, edit, and create a final product that will actually be used by the community.

Technology as Facilitator of Quality Education Model Components Highlighted in This Activity:  
http://www.intime.uni.edu/model/modelimage.html

(Note:  This is a unit plan that may cover several days to several weeks. Not all of the elements from the Technology as Facilitator of Quality Education Model that are described below will appear in the video clips used.)

Democracy:
Individual Responsibility and Civil Involvement with Others
Students worked together on project, sharing information, meeting with groups of community members, etc.  Each student had a responsibility to get their part done.

Thinking Together and Making Meaning
Students had to brainstorm together to come up with the final product.

Critical Thinking and Decision Making
Students had to come up with ways to combine the different segments together and to operate the technology equipment and trouble-shoot.

Information Processing:
Enjoyable Setting
The students enjoyed being able to work in the relaxed atmosphere of the computer lab and going on field trips.

Reflection
The students had to revisit their past work and work through the process again.

Informal Learning
The students were given permission to visit with each other and freedom to walk around to the different tech tools, etc.

Direct Experience
The students actually had to put themselves into the different countries and learn about them as though they had actually been on this trip.

Active Involvement
The students had to be very active while using the technology equipment and creating ideas for their trips.

Student Characteristics:
Students that were more "out-going" found the interviewing much easier than the others and also led the group discussions.  Some students, more introverted, felt more comfortable working with the technology tools directly.  Students that were organized did much better and handled deadlines much better.  Students found working at their own pace, much less intrusive and felt less pressure.

How the Activity has Evolved Over Time:
It has grown into a larger project, incorporating more technologies each year, because of the availability of technology and the improvements of the equipment, etc.

(Learning activity format adapted from National Educational Technology Standards for Students Connecting Curriculum & Technology http://cnets.iste.org/students )

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                                      Last Updated: 03/18/08